The Secret Language of Girls

Rating:
Summary: CHARACTERS COME ALIVE IN THIS READING
Review: Gifted voice performer Michele Santopietro (with credits on TV's The Sopranos) brings to her reading all the pathos, giggles, insouciance and, yes, downright meanness typical of preteen girls as they struggle to find their place among their peers.

Kate and Marylin have been best friends for all of their lives - all 11 years. They live on the same block, have spent countless hours together completely happy in one another's company. Suddenly, the air has changed with the arrival of Flannery and Marylin's interest in being a part of the "in" crowd at school.

It's tough to lose a best pal, even tougher when you can't figure out what in the world has changed her. Nonetheless, Kate soldiers on eventually finding where she belongs in the ever shifting tides of pubescence.

This is a story to which all young listeners can relate in one way or another. They'll see themselves and their friends in it - perhaps learning a thing or two.

- Gail Cooke

Rating:
Summary: A story with tremendous heart
Review: Kate and Marylin have been best friends forever. But as they enter sixth grade, their friendship changes. Kate continues to love reading, basketball and bugs, while Marylin dreams of kissing, boys and cheerleading. The friends periodically drift apart and then are pulled back together throughout THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF GIRLS.

As the girls hover between childhood and womanhood, and between being buddies and just acquaintances, their bond is tried again and again. Flannery, "the queen of eyeball rolling," moves into their neighborhood, wooing Marylin with her siren song of seventh grade sophistication. Marylin, who is working on a "whole new me," has changed her name's spelling (it used to be "Marilyn") and is wondering if her weird toes would improve with plastic surgery --- or, at least, a coat of nail polish. She goes out for cheerleading and starts hanging with the popular crowd. Kate, who does not yearn for romance, finds herself "in like" with a fellow basketball player.

Each chapter in this book is a perfect little story with the power to make the reader giggle or choke up. Early on, when Marylin and Kate rescue an orphaned baby bird, Marylin thinks Kate is "back in first-grader land." Feeling compelled to motivate her friend to grow up, Marylin tries to educate Kate on the probability of the bird's death. She worries that Kate will be devastated when the bird succumbs. During the inevitable funeral, though, Marylin finds herself moved by the little bird's demise and afterward Kate amazes her by requesting toenail-painting lessons.

In another story, Kate learns an amazing lesson on how to connect with others, taught by a free-spirited new girl at school. In yet another, Marylin has a sleepover that goes bad from the start --- until it's redeemed by a flock of snow-angels.

This is a satisfying read with tremendous heart. I wholeheartedly recommend THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF GIRLS to any female who has a best friend, had a best friend, or wants a best friend. I do have just one question: How old is the author, Frances O'Roark Dowell? She knows sixth grade girls so eerily well, I swear she can't be much over twelve.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (...)

Rating:
Summary: Great Novel About Changing Friendships
Review: Kate's a bit of "late bloomer." She's not really interested in kissing boys, piercing her ears, or trying out for cheerleading. Her best friend, Marilyn, is all of sudden into all of those things. The arrival of the ultra-hip Flannery makes matters worse for Kate. The book follows Kate and Marilyn through sixth grade as they cope with changes in their lives and in their friendship. As they both come into their own, Kate's musings on which of them is really the late bloomer are truly valuable.

Honestly, the book isn't perfect: it's poorly organized and doesn't have a very strong plot line. The family issues both girls experience are just touched upon and the book could have been roudned out by incorporating these issues more in the story. However, this is the best book I've read about girls and the social pressures and changes experienced in junior high. It gives the reader a good look at both independant Kate's and cheerleader Marilyn's sides of the experience and throws in just enough light romance to make you sigh. I'd happpily hand this to any 4th, 5th or 6th grade girl.